1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to paging systems and more particularly to paging systems in which pagers are programmable.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional pagers are generally hard-coded with an ID number and manually labeled in accordance with the ID number. Pagers that are used in the customer service arena are often provided on a temporary basis to clients to notify clients when their time for service has arrived. For example, restaurants may use pagers to notify customers when a table is ready for seating and the pagers may take the form of a coaster or may have any other desired shape. Locations will typically purchase 40 or 50 pagers or coasters to support their operations. When a pager becomes lost or stolen, reordering must be coordinated with current inventory in order that the ordering of replacement pagers does not result in the duplication of pager ID numbers. Shipping costs and labor resources may contribute to the problem.
Some currently available pagers can be reprogrammed on site. Generally, reprogramming is a manual process and may involve steps of setting switch positions and labeling the pager. While reprogrammable pagers resolve some of the basic problems with pagers, many issues remain. For example, those prior art systems that permit reprogramming require manual reprogramming of each individual pager, resulting in a tedious, time-consuming process. Furthermore, management of an inventory of conventional reprogrammable pagers is often associated with increased labor costs. Likewise, labeling of pagers to match a new pager ID includes additional labor-intensive, tedious work.